Extra, extra, read all about it! In the space where candy could once be purchased according to weight (no, not Lil Jo’s – J&J’s Candy Bar), Mike’s Calzones has set up shop. The new food joint at 288 Thayer Street opened Monday afternoon, boasting a menu of (gasp!) calzones, starters, wraps, subs and salads at an affordable, college student price.

The list of calzones offered is extensive, ranging from “Veggie Lovahz” to “Chicken Bacon Ranch” and beyond (word on the inside, however, is that “Buffalo Chicken” is where it’s at). If you can’t find love in their calzone options, you can always design your own calzone with mozzarella and a choice of four “toppings” (I instead might refer to these as “stuffings”).

Mike’s is open Sunday-Thursday 10am-10pm and Friday and Saturday 10am-11pm. We all know that the pizza cone couldn’t find its place up on College Hill, but I think the more portable calzone may be solid competition for the Nice Slice and Antonio’s crowd. Let’s give it the old college try and give Mike a chance, shall we?

One of the liberties of being off meal plan that I (perhaps too often) indulge in is the ability to eat off campus. And, though Thayer does offer Brunonia a surprisingly eclectic and delicious range of restaurant choices (late-night or otherwise), it can get tiresome eating the same thing over and over again. Many visitors to Providence don’t realize the sheer number of superb restaurants in the area and are utterly surprised by the choices available. This weekend, a good friend from home is staying with me while on the pursuit of being a successful person (a.k.a. Brown Med School interview), and I want to take this time to both selfishly indulge in many of the restaurants within a walkable radius and show off Providence to someone who has never experienced her in all her glory.

Granted, there will probably be at least one meal eaten on Thayer (Meeting Street cookies? Late night Baja’s? Nice Slice for someone who doesn’t have much experience with New York style thin-crust pizza?), but I’m on a mission to talk-up Providence and its coolness factor. (I’ll downplay the rain a bit. And the masturbators.) So, where does one take a guest who has yet to experience the 401 and is on a student budget?  My plan is to start by interrogating him before each meal to figure out what kind of food he wants. Indian? Mediterranean? Italian? Asian fusion? [Read more →]

We all know and love the best weekend of the year: Family Weekend.  Upperclassmen look fondly back on the time when their parents would visit for a couple of days to replenish snacks, buy new clothes for the upcoming bitter months and look for excuses to pawn useless dorm necessities off on us.

Often, parents will try and utilize this opportunity to relive their college years while simultaneously bonding with their now-adult children.  Read: they want to eat in the dining hall.  And to that, we must be strong! Be principled! Stand up for yourself and for all that tastes good in the world! Demand food off-campus before it’s too late and you start to notice leftovers being served in the Ratty three days in a row.  Providence was named the third best city for foodies in America [via], and now is the time to take advantage ofeducate your parents on some of the wonderful food offered here.  Let them drive you wherever your their heart desires and bask in the glory of the foodie-heaven that is Providence.  Even if fancy food isn’t your style, at least use this weekend as an opportunity to get off Thayer Street.  I know we thought that Paragon would never get old, but alas…

Pricey-but-worth-it Dinner

• Al Forno Restaurant, www.alforno.com, 577 South Main Street, Providence, (401) 273-9760

Made famous by their amazing appetizer pizza, this classy (and relatively pricey) Italian restaurant is first-rate.  Just a hop, skip and jump away from Whisky Republic, this restaurant truly offers some of the best Italian food that can be found on this side of the Atlantic. Open Tuesday through Sunday, Al Forno does NOT take reservations, is fairly small and fills up FAST: plan accordingly.  [Read more →]

If you’ve spent any time walking up or down Thayer this year, then you have most certainly been posed with the question: “What exactly is a cone zone?” For months, Brown pedestrians have asked themselves what the mysterious new “Mediterranean Experience” undergoing construction might be. An ice cream parlor? An Italian themed laser park extravaganza? The possibilities were limitless… [Read more →]

Fall in Providence — Anne Simons / BlogDailyHerald

Supposedly Brown students don’t leave the campus area as often as we should. (Wait, there are other streets besides Thayer?) You and your family may be tired of looking around the Brown campus and Thayer Street, so check out these slightly off Thayer destinations.

For everyone:
Historic crap on College Hill: Just walk around and absorb that historic atmosphere in the beautiful fall weather. And we mean crap in the best way possible.

The State House: They give tours, right? Go see what the RI legislature is up to these days.

Follow after the jump to [Read more →]

A house on the corner of Thayer and Euclid will soon be home to Toledo, a Mediterranean restaurant, according to a sign in front of the building. The restaurant is the latest in a series of new restaurants opening or starting construction on Thayer.

Toledo also continues the trend of opening a restaurant with a cuisine already well-represented on Thayer. As much as people love Chipotle (and have pined for one for years), we already had at least three other burrito sources on the same street – Baja’s, Bagel Gourmet Ole, and Gordito Burrito. And now Toledo will be the fifth restaurant on Thayer with at least some Mediterranean flair (preceded by East Side Pockets, Paragon, Andrea’s, and Kartabar).

Although the signs on the buildings promise something unique.

Wonder what this Cone Zone is….